Help save the endangered Orangutans. They need your help!

Baby Orangutans

Mom and Child

Male and Female

On the left is a male Orangutan and on the right is a female Orangutan. Most males have wider facial features, larger feet, and weigh much more than the average females.

Baby Orangutans

Baby Orangutans love to explore and be around others, unlike adults.

Mom and Child

A baby Orangutan gets a fun piggyback ride from his mom.

Male and Female

On the left is a male Orangutan and on the right is a female Orangutan. Most males have wider facial features, larger feet, and weigh much more than the average females.

The name orangutan means "man of the forest" in the Malay language. Orangutans are very interesting animals. They have long arms and short legs covered in a thick layer of reddish orange hair-like fur. Their face is structured very similar to a humans. They have curl fingers used to grasp their food easier and to swing throu. They eat fruit but for a majority of their life they eat figs. Their favorite activity is to climb trees.

Habitat

Orangutans live in the high trees of Sumatra, Indonesia, Borneo, Southeast Asia. Orangutans can also be found around Southwest Asia as well. They live in tropical forests and prefer forest in river valleys.

Population

There are not many orangutans in exsistence. There is estimated to be apprximately 6,624 orangutans left in Sumatra and 50,000 orangutans left in Borneo! If we help there would be many more orangutans for future generations to come.

Why Are Orangutans Endangered?

Sadly, the amount of Orangutans decreases every day because of situations that can easily be prevented. Humans hunt orangutans to kill them for their skulls or fur to make coats, purses, and many other assessories. Baby orangutans are sometimes kept as pets. Orangutan habitats are also constantly being destroyed by humans cutting down their living environment completely.

How Can Us People Help?

There are many simple ways to prevent orangutans from going extinct. One of the easiest and best ways to save the species is to stop hunting them. Another way is to stop destroying their habitat. It would be wonderful if we could create an Orangutan Sanctuary for them to have a safe and happy place to live in peace.

Sources and Authors

I used Gale, Ebsco Host, and Britannica Image. I worked on this project alone.

Interesting Facts

Did you know that male Orangutans are typically twice as large as female Orangutans? They also usually have wider facial features. Adult Orangutans enjoy being independent and alone.

They live far away from each other to avoid conflicts with each other.